Fantastic Fest 2025: Bruno Forzani and Hélène Cattet on Reflection in a Dead Diamond, Memory, and the Ghosts of Cinema’s Past

Bruno Forzani and Hélène Cattet discuss memory, violence, and the art of cinematic reflection at Fantastic Fest 2025.

At Fantastic Fest 2025, Belgian filmmakers Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani premiered Reflection in a Dead Diamond, a hypnotic, dreamlike spy film that fuses the decadent visuals of Visconti with the brutal physicality of Eurospy action. The duo—known for Amer and The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears—spoke with Horror Movies Uncut about memory, identity, and crafting a story where cinema itself becomes a haunted reflection.

A Bond haunted by time

The initial spark for Reflection in a Dead Diamond came from an unlikely mix of influences. “We saw Monte Hellman’s Road to Nowhere in 2011,” Forzani explained. “It reminded us of Sean Connery—this idea of an aging Bond figure haunted by his past.” Cattet added, “When we left the theater, we said, ‘Let’s make a Death in Venice with James Bond remembering everything he’s done.’ That contrast between the romantic and the violent became our starting point.”

Their protagonist—an aging ex-spy confronting a life of mistakes—represents a generation’s broken promise. “When we were children, Bond was supposed to save the world,” Forzani said. “But maybe he failed. This is a movie about someone who wanted to save the world, but ended up destroying it.”

Elegance, violence, and the dance of death

Known for visual precision, the filmmakers approached Reflection’s action with the same artistic intent as their stylized murder sequences. “It was our first time doing fight scenes,” Cattet said. “People told us to hire a choreographer, but we wanted to direct it ourselves. The movement had to feel organic—like a dance.”

A key sequence was inspired by a spontaneous moment. “I was writing in the kitchen, and Hélène started dancing to a song,” Forzani recalled. “That became the rhythm of the fight. Later, we cast a contemporary dancer as the villain so the movement could stay fluid and expressive, even when brutal.”

Cinema, architecture, and the weight of memory

Shot in the Côte d’Azur, the film uses its setting not just as backdrop but as character. “It represents the world—luxury, power, temptation,” said Cattet. “But also decay.” Forzani, who grew up nearby, added, “There’s a tension between concrete and nature, old and new. It’s not just a postcard of the Riviera—it’s a mirror of the story’s corruption.”

Their visual style, rich with surreal editing and symbolic framing, draws from the lineage of Satoshi Kon’s Millennium Actress and the narrative layering of Westworld. “We wanted to blur reality and dream,” Cattet said. “Each viewing should reveal something new—like a memory you can’t fully trust.”

Homage and evolution

The pair cite Italian fumetti neri—dark comic books like Diabolik—as a major influence. “Those stories were bold, where the hero could also be the villain,” Forzani said. “We like that moral blur. It makes the viewer uncomfortable.”

While many modern spy films rely on parody or nostalgia, Reflection in a Dead Diamond takes the genre seriously, combining the melancholic grandeur of Visconti with the pop psychedelia of 1960s Eurospy cinema. “We wanted to bring both extremes together,” Cattet said. “Beauty and danger, sentiment and destruction.”

A film meant to linger

Asked what they hope audiences take away, Cattet smiled. “We want them to have a cinematic experience that stays with them. Not just content to consume, but something they’ll revisit years later.” Forzani agreed: “Like when I first saw Lost Highway. I didn’t understand it, but it lived inside me. That’s the kind of experience we hope to create.”

Reflection in a Dead Diamond is a lush, surreal journey into the fractured mind of an aging spy—a film about memory, myth, and the elegance of destruction.